Field of dreams almost ready as Laochra Óg celebrate tenth anniversary

It’s exactly ten years since Laochra Óg Hurling Club came into being. As founding chairperson Liam Slattery puts it, “You talk about grassroots and we weren’t even a seed.”

Last month, a special event to mark the anniversary was held at the club’s new grounds at Ballymacorcoran outside Macroom and, all going well, the venue will host its first games this summer.

Set up to provide a hurling outlet - from under-age up to adult level - for residents of the parishes of Macroom, Cill na Martra, Baile Bhúirne, Coolea and Clondrohid, Laochra Óg’s progress has been based on a collective effort. That said, Slattery – a native of Rosegreen in Tipperary and now coaching officer – acknowledges that the size of the task mightn’t have been apparent at the outset.

“There was no hurling in the area, in any capacity, when we began in 2014,” he says.

“We looked at it from different aspects. How we were going to form the club was obviously a big thing, where would we get the players from, would the locals buy into it?

“We didn’t know the challenges we’d be facing – the catchment area in the four parishes is 312 square kilometres, which isn’t far off half the size of Louth! We were innocent in the early days but enthusiasm got us over the line.”

At a meeting with Cork County Board officials in early 2014, Slattery was among a group outlining the need for a new club rather than welding a hurling arm on to a football entity.

“We were asked if we had a pitch,” Slattery says, “and we were saying, ‘We don’t know but leave it with us and we’ll come back to you.’

“That was the end of January and Frank Murphy said to us to come back at the end of March with facilities sorted and to know which teams we’d be entering.”

After an “absolutely hectic” period, the infant club secured a training base at Teerbeg – just off what is now the Macroom bypass – thanks to the generosity of farmers Michael and Nora McCarthy.

Among the fundraising initiatives were to engage with different jersey sponsors for each team – anyone who came on board has remained loyal in the ten years since – and a subscription system of €2 per week during the season, with a maximum of €5 for a family of three or more.

Coláiste Ghobnatán in Baile Bhúirne provided a pitch that could be used for matches and now the club boasts upwards of 400 members and 16 teams across hurling and camogie, which was inaugurated in the club in 2016.
Slattery, a garda by profession, used his days off to coach hurling in the nine primary and four secondary schools in the club’s hinterland.

He became such a regular fixture that John Nash, another former chairperson and current children’s officer, describes him as “a full-time coach and a part-time garda”, but it was worthwhile work.

“When you go into the schools, a lot of the children have never held a hurley,” Slattery says.

“You’d give them the hurley and some of them might be calling them sticks! Then wearing helmets was totally alien to them.

“And something else, which you wouldn’t consider beforehand, is that they might enjoy playing the hurling in the school but then they don’t have a hurley at home.

“That really brings you back down to what it’s actually all about, you are really starting from scratch.”

Thankfully for Laochra Óg, things progressed to the point where the land at Ballymacorcoran was secured. The eight-acre site allows for a main pitch which has the same dimensions as Croke Park as well as a training pitch and ball-wall.

Even after the recent poor weather, the sod is holding up well.

“A lot of thought went into it,” Slattery says, “and we decided that it was best to put in a really good pitch.

“Everything else can come after, in terms of buildings and all of that, but the most important thing for us was to get the field right.

“Over the next few weeks, we’re going to put up the netting and the goalposts and fence off the perimeter. Weather permitting, we’d hope to have it up and running in then next six or eight weeks.”

Settling in to the new digs will mark a huge milestone in the still-young life of the club and Slattery hopes that it’s just the beginning.

“All of the hard work well worth it, when you see that we’ve got to this point,” he says.

“At the same time, we’re not going to sit on our laurels now that we’ve got a field – this is only the beginning.

“My dream would be to see lads or girls on a Cork team with Laochra Óg after their name. We’ve seen it already with girls on Cork under-age panels and Ava McSweeney was on the Cork panel that won the senior All-Ireland last year.

“You get an extra bounce off that as you have more new players look to join and it shows what can be achieved.”

The next ten years will hopefully be a case of further onwards and upwards.

“Hurling has to be minded,” Slattery says.

“In the general scheme of things, what we’re doing is tiny but, the more the game grows, the better it is.

“For us, it’s about just giving children the opportunity to play hurling.

“We stuck our necks out there and it could have all gone really badly for us. It was a gamble, but you won’t get anywhere in life unless you take a risk here or there!

“I’m very glad we went ahead with it. Seeing the kids out there playing hurling and camogie makes it all worthwhile.

“The lads who were U6s when we started off are playing minor now and that gives you great pride.”